Automobile body cover

ABSTRACT

An automobile cover can easily cover an automobile and an automobile body covering device can store the body cover into a trunk without injuring or remodeling an automobile body. To achieve such a goal, fold line portions for guiding folding are formed on a cover body such that the fold line portions extend in the longitudinal direction of the cover body, the cover body is configured to be foldable along the fold line portions, and a plurality of core members are arranged between the fold line portions and left and right longitudinal-side edges of the cover body in a spaced-apart manner in the longitudinal direction.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automobile body cover.

Conventionally, as an automobile body cover device, there has been knownan automobile body cover device having the following constitution (forexample, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei8(1996)-104142).

That is, a porch which houses a body cover is mounted on a back surfaceof a trunk lid and one end of a body cover is connected to a porch. Incovering an automobile body with the body cover, a distal end of thebody cover is pulled out through a gap defined between a peripheralportion of a proximal end of the trunk lid and a peripheral portion ofan opening portion of the trunk room, while in removing the body cover,the body cover is pulled in from the porch side thus ensuring a simpleoperation. Further, the body cover is stored in the inside of the porchformed on a back surface of the trunk lid.

Further, there has been also known an automobile body cover device whichhas the following constitution (for example, see Japanese UnexaminedUtility Model Publication Hei3(1991)-38128).

A reel device which rotates a roller which winds a body cover thereon inthe winding direction is mounted on a back surface of a trunk lid andthe body cover is always stored in the inside of a trunk. To cover anautomobile body with the body cover, in the same manner as theabove-mentioned prior art, a distal end of the body cover is pulled outthrough a gap defined between a peripheral portion of a proximal end ofthe trunk lid and a peripheral portion of the opening portion of thetrunk room and is unfolded over a roof of a automobile body so as tocover the automobile body.

Then, in removing the body cover, the winding device is operated so asto allow the roller to automatically wind the cover and the body coveris stored in the inside of the trunk.

However, with respect to the above-mentioned conventional automobilebody cover devices, no attention has been focused on the body cover perse which is used in the automobile body cover device and constitutes anessential part of the automobile body cover device and no particularideas have been proposed on the automobile body cover device.Accordingly, the automobile body cover devices have not yet beenpopularly used at present.

On the other hand, to focus attentions on the automobile body cover perse, there has been known an automobile cover having the followingconstitution, for example (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication2000-88322, for example).

That is, there is provided a cover in which a plurality of annularsprings made of a spring material having a narrow width are arranged onand are fixed to an automobile cover material, the cover material isfoldable for every zone unit defined by the fixing of the annularsprings, and the cover includes means for fixing the cover to theautomobile. Here, a user grips both sides of a portion of the cover in afolded state which is arranged in front of the annular spring portionwith his both hands and applies pressure to the cover inwardly so that aclamping force acts on a center portion at an opposite side.Accordingly, the opposite side of the annular spring is resilientlydeformed and is reversed in an approximately small circular shape, agrip portion of the annular spring which is also formed in a smallcircular shape is overlapped to this small circular shape portion,whereby the cover is foldable to a size which is one third of theoriginal size of the annular spring.

This structure allows the easy handling of the cover and the rapidremoval of the cover. Further, the folding operation requires small timeand efforts, there is no possibility that clothing is smeared, and thecover can be folded in an extremely compact form.

Although the above-mentioned automobile body cover can be folded in acompact form as a matter of fact, the automobile body cover still hasdrawbacks to be solved in an actual operation on a roof of anautomobile.

That is, even when the body cover folded in a compact has no rigidityexcept for the center portion of the cover where the above-mentionedannular spring is fixedly secured, to open the portions of the coverwhich correspond to sides of the automobile, the user must perform thecovering operation while moving. This operation becomes extremelydifficult when the operation is performed under a strong wind.

Further, also in storing the body cover, it is difficult to perform anoperation to fold the above-mentioned side portions of the body cover tothe inside in a state that body cover is held on the roof. Particularly,when the wind blows, it is almost impossible to perform the foldingoperation against the wind.

Accordingly, it is necessary for the user to carry the body cover toother place in a state that the body cover is folded for every zone unitdefined by fixing of the annular springs and, thereafter, the user foldsthe body cover into a small circular shape while taking care ofappearance of the body cover. Further, since such a folding operationrequires some strength, the operation imposes a considerable burden to awoman or an aged person.

Further, the body cover which is used in the above-mentionedconventional automobile body cover device also has many drawbacks.

That is, even when the cover material is thin, the cover material havingan area which can cover the automobile body becomes necessary and hence,the cover material has a considerable weight. Further, the covermaterial is configured to have no rigidity. Accordingly, in both of theabove-mentioned case in which the body cover is stored in the porch orthe above-mentioned case in which the body cover is wound around theroller, a considerable load is imparted to the user.

Further, although it is necessary to unfold the body cover on the roofof the automobile in covering the automobile with the body cover and tofold the body cover on the roof of the automobile in storing the bodycover, since the body cover requires an area which is large enough tocover the body cover as mentioned above, the above-mentioned operationcannot be performed easily with the body cover having no rigidity as amatter of course.

Further, even when skeletal members are simply provided to the cover toachieve the rigidity, this does not enhance the operability on the roofand the layout of the skeletal members still remains as a task to besolved. Eventually, it has been practically difficult to use theautomobile body cover in a state that the body cover can beautomatically reeled out and in without any trouble.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automobile bodycover which can overcome the above-mentioned drawback.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, fold line portions for guidingfolding are formed on a cover body such that the fold line portionsextend in the longitudinal direction of the cover body, the cover bodyis configured to be foldable along the fold line portions, and aplurality of core members comprised of spring steel are arranged betweenthe fold line portions and left and right longitudinal-side edges of thecover body in a spaced-apart manner in the longitudinal direction.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned foldline portions for guiding folding are formed in plural numbers.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned coverbody is formed in a shape which is capable of covering a roof portionand front-and-rear and left-and-right window portions of an automobile,and is foldable in three along the longitudinal direction by way of twofold line portions into a center portion which covers the front and rearwindow portions and a left-side portion and the roof portion and aright-side portion which cover left and right window portions, and aplurality of core members are formed on the center portion, theleft-side portion and the right-side portions respectively.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned coverbody is formed in a shape which is capable of covering a roof portionand front-and-rear and left-and-right window portions of an automobile,and is foldable in three along the longitudinal direction by way of twofold line portions into a center portion which covers the front and rearwindow portions and a left-side portion the roof portion and and aright-side portion which cover left and right window portions, and aplurality of core members are formed on the center portion, theleft-side portion and the right-side portions respectively.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned coverbody is formed i a shape which is capable of covering a roof potion andfron-and-rear and left-and-right window portions of an automobile, andis foldable in three along the longitudinal direction by way of two foldline portions into a center portion which covers the front and rearwindow portions and the roof portion and a left-side portion and aright-side portion which cover left and right window portions, and aplurality of core members made of spring steel are formed on the centerportion, the left-side portion and the right-side portions respectively.

Further, according to the present invention, the body cover includeshinge portions which facilitate a folding operation of the core members.

Further, according to the present invention, pipe-like core members areprovided to front ends and/or rear ends of the above-mentioned coverbody.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned coverbody is configured to be stored in an automobile body cover device whichincludes winding means such that the above-mentioned cover body isreeled out from and is wound in the automobile body cover device.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a use state of a cover deviceprovided with a body cover.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the whole bodycover is unfolded.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which one side isfolded.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the body cover isfolded in three.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the body cover isreeled out to a position above a roof of an automobile.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the body cover ismounted on an automobile.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a use state of a winding rope.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a case in which left andright-side portions of the cover body are pulled up in a state that theleft and right-side portions are divided.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a body cover provided with gorefasteners.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a use state of the body coverprovided with the gore fasteners.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a cover device as viewed from theside.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of the first modification of a standportion as viewed from the side.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of the first modification of the standportion as viewed from above.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of the second modification of the standportion as viewed from the side.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the second modification of the standportion as viewed from above.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of the third modification of the standportion as viewed from the side.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged explanatory view showing the constitution of anengaging member which constitutes an essential part of the thirdmodification of the stand portion.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing an unfolded state in which thewhole body cover according to the second embodiment is unfolded.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a side mirror ismade to pass through a slit formed in the body cover.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view showing a locked state of the body cover.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing a step of folding the body cover.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view showing a step of folding the body cover.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory view showing a step of folding the body cover.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory view showing a step of folding the body cover.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory view showing a step of folding the body cover.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the body coveris mounted on an automobile.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing an automobile provided with anantenna.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory view showing a mounting state of an antennaprotecting member.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of the antenna protecting member.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory view of the antenna protecting member asviewed from the side.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory view showing a state in which an automobileprovided with an antenna is covered with a body cover.

FIG. 32 is an explanatory view showing an example of a body cover for anautomobile provided with an antenna.

FIG. 33 is an explanatory view of an antenna inserting slit.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory view showing a modification of the body cover.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory view of hinge portions provided to coremembers.

FIG. 36 is an explanatory view with a part broken away of anothermodification of a cover device as viewed from the side.

FIG. 37 is an explanatory view with a part broken away of anothermodification of a stand portion shown in FIG. 36 as viewed from theback.

FIG. 38 is an explanatory view for explaining a use state of anothermodification of the cover device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An automobile body cover (hereinafter referred to as “body cover”)according to the present invention is configured such that fold lineportions for guiding folding are formed on a cover body in thelongitudinal direction such that the fold line portions extend in thelongitudinal direction of the cover body so as to allow the cover bodyfoldable along the fold line portions, and a plurality of core membersare arranged between the fold line portions and left and rightlongitudinal edges of the cover body in a given interval in thelongitudinal direction.

The above-mentioned fold line portions for guiding folding may be formedin plural numbers so as to provide the body cover of a versatile foldedstate in which the body cover is folded in three or more. Particularly,as in the case of this embodiment, it is preferable to form the foldline portions such that two fold line portions extend in parallel in thelongitudinal direction of the cover body.

Then, while constituting the body cover such that the body cover can befolded in three along two fold line portions, a plurality of coremembers are arranged in parallel at a given interval in the longitudinaldirection between the fold line portions and the left and rightlongitudinal side edges of the cover body.

That is, it is difficult to unfold or fold the body cover such as agenerally-available body cover which has no rigidity on the roof.However, with the provision of the fold line portions and the coremembers, in performing the operation to fold the left-side andright-side portions of the cover body inwardly and to open theseleft-side and right-side portions to the outside, by merely holding anend portion of one longitudinal edge of the cover body and performingthe folding operation or unfolding operation from one side, the wholeleft-side and right-side portions of the cover body follow suchoperations whereby an operator can smoothly perform the operationwithout moving. Particularly, when two fold line portions are formed soas to allow the folding of the cover body in three, the above-mentionedadvantageous effect becomes apparent whereby the operability isremarkably enhanced not only with respect to the covering operation butalso with respect to the storing manipulation.

Further, with the use of the core members having resiliency, even whenthe wind blows during the operation and it is necessary to fold thecover body against the wind, the core members deflect with resiliencyand maintain the low posture such that the cover body extends along theroof of the automobile and hence, it is possible to perform the foldingoperation by reducing the resistance of the wind as much as possible.

Here, the core members are not always required to possess the resiliencyand, for example, it is possible to cope with the wind by providinghinge portions which assist the folding operation of the core members tothe core members.

Further, it is preferable to mount pipe-like core members to a front endand/or a rear end of the cover body. While these pipe-like core membersperform a function as grip portions, it is possible to easily wind thecover body using these pipe-like cores as the center of winding at thetime of winding the cover body in a roll shape.

Further, the body cover can be stored in an automobile body cover device(hereinafter referred to as “cover device”) in a state the body covercan be reeled in an out from the cover device.

That is, with respect to a body cover having no rigidity such as ageneral-use body cover, it is difficult to unfold the body cover to theroof by reeling out the body cover along a rear glass and to unfold thebody cover over the roof. However, by providing the fold line portionsand the core members to the body cover, it is possible to perform suchoperations smoothly. Further, even at the time of storing the bodycover, the body-cover folding operation can be easily performed and, atthe same time, the winding of the body cover into the cover device canbe also easily performed.

In this manner, the body cover according to this embodiment exhibits thefavorable operability in reeling out and winding of the cover body and,at the same time, the body cover can prevent the collapse of shape atthe time of reeling out and winding of the cover body. Accordingly, withrespect to the series of operations to cover the automobile, theoperability can be remarkably enhanced.

Here, to facilitate the handling of the above-mentioned cover body, itis preferable to form the cover body in a shape which is capable ofcovering the roof portion and the front-and-rear and left-and-rightwindows of the automobile and has at least a small area which canprevent sunbeams from directly entering the inside of a chamber of theautomobile. Due to such a constitution, it is also possible to preventthe freezing of the glass and the direct stacking of snow on the glassduring the winter season.

Further, the cover body may be configured as follows. That is, the coverbody is foldable in three along two fold line portions into the centerportion which covers the front and rear window portions and the roofportion and the left-side portion and the right-side portion whichrespectively cover the left and right window portions, and theabove-mentioned plurality of core members are provided to the centerportion, the left-side portion and the right-side portion respectively.

Accordingly, it is possible to easily perform the unfolding of the coverbody on the roof at the time of covering operation and, at the sametime, the folding operation can be easily performed.

For example, in unfolding or folding the body cover on the roof, withthe provision of the core members, by merely jerking the cover bodywhile holding one portion thereof such as a front side, a rear side orthe like of the left and right-side portions, it is possible to jerk thewhole left and right-side portions of the body cover and hence, the bodycover can be extremely easily handled and, at the same time, theoperation can be easily performed even the wind blows more or less.Particularly, when the core members are formed of members havingresiliency, it is possible to perform the folding operation against thewind by performing the operation while making the cover body take thelow posture along the roof. Alternatively, also in this case, asexplained above, it may be possible to cope with the situation byconfiguring the cover body such that the cover body is provided withhinge portions which assist the folding operation of the core members.

Here, as the measure to cope with the wind, for example, each of theleft and right-side portions of the body cover may be two-split in thefore-and-aft direction in the vicinity of the center portion to reducethe handling area and hence, a front side portion and a rear sideportion can be individually unfolded and folded. In this case, it ispreferable that the front side portion and the rear side portion can besuitably connected using a fastener or the like. Further, connectingstrings may be attached to the vicinities of the center portions of theleft and right-side portions of the body cover and distal ends of theconnecting strings may be engaged with a body of an automobile so as toprevent the body cover from being blown up by the wind or the like.Further, in folding the body cover in the wind, by pulling up the coverover the roof of the automobile using connecting strings, it is possibleto facilitate the folding of the body cover.

Further, in reeling out the body cover and unfolding the left andright-side portions, to prevent the body cover from being displaced dueto the wind or the like, temporary fixing means such as suction cupswhich can temporarily fix the cover body to a bonnet of an automobilemay be provided to the distal end portion of the cover body.

Further, it is preferable that the core members which are respectivelyprovided to the center portion, the left-side portion and the right-sideportion of the cover body are made of a strip-like body havingresiliency. For example, a material having resiliency such a springsteel material can be preferably used. Further, it is preferable thatthe arrangement positions of these core members are displaced from eachother to prevent these core members from being overlapped to each otherwhen the cover body is folded in three.

It is preferable that the cover device provided with the above-mentionedbody cover includes a device body which is configured to be capable ofreeling out and winding the cover body and stand portions which mountthe device body thereon by way of link mechanisms, wherein resilientsupport members are mounted on the stand portions in an extensivemanner, and the cover device can be stored in the inside of a trunk roomin a state that the cover device is propped up and supported betweeninner walls of the trunk room.

Further, it is desirable that the device body is configured to bemovable from an upper position which is a use position to a lowerposition which is a non-use position.

That is, when the automobile body is covered with the body cover, bysetting the device body such that the device body can hold the bodycover at the upper position, it is possible to position the device closeto an operator and hence, the handling is facilitated and, at the sametime, at the time of non-use, that is, when the body cover is stored inthe trunk room, by moving the device body which is a relatively heavyobject downwardly in parallel whereby it is possible to store the devicebody in a stable state. Accordingly, even when the automobile travels ona rough road, a load applied to the stand portions which support thedevice body can be suppressed as much as possible and, at the same time,a load applied to the stand portions due to the deadweight of the deviceper se is decreased thus providing the cover device which exhibits theexcellent durability. Further, at the time of non-use, it is possible toensure the accommodating space in the inside of the trunk room at muchas possible.

Further, the above-mentioned device body may be configured to include adrum which winds the body cover thereon and drive means which rotatesthe drum in the direction to reel out the body cover. The drive meanswhich rotates the drum in the direction to reel out the body cover is,for example, configured such that a reel-out shaft which mounts aresilient body such as a spring thereon is connected to theabove-mentioned drum by way of a one-way clutch and, at the same time,energy storage means which rotates the reel-out shaft in the directionopposite to the body cover reel-out direction and deflects the resilientbody is provided, and the reel shaft is rotated using a restoring forceof the resilient body after manipulating the energy storage means so asto reel out the body cover. Here, there is no particular limitation withrespect to the constitution of the energy storage means provided thatthe energy storing means can deflect the resilient body.

Due to such a constitution, it is possible to semi-automatically andeasily perform the reeling out of the body cover with the simplemechanical operation whereby the cover operation can be performedeasily. Here, it is needless to say that the reeling out of the bodycover may be performed by pulling out the body cover manually.

Further, the drum on which the body cover is wound may be provided withan automatic winding device which winds the reeled-out body cover. Dueto such a constitution, in storing the body cover which covers theautomobile body, it is possible to automatically wind and store the bodycover in the inside of the trunk room by removing the above-mentionedengaging member. It is needless to say that the winding may be themanual winding.

In this embodiment, since the cover device has the above-mentionedconstitution. It is possible to easily store and arrange the body coverdevice in the inside of the trunk room without remodeling the inside ofthe trunk room or injuring the trunk room and, at the same time, it ispossible to easily perform the reeling out and the winding of the bodycover. Further, as mentioned previously, since the core members areprovided to the body cover, the operations which cover the reel-outoperation, the unfolding operation, the folding operation and thestoring operation of the body cover can be performed easily.

Here, it is preferable that the above-mentioned resilient supportmembers in the cover device can be supported in a projected manner inthe vertical direction.

For example, the stand portion is configured in a telescopic shape andincludes an outer sleeve which is mounted upright on a leg seat, abottomed inner sleeve which is slidably arranged in the inside of theouter sleeve and tiltably mounts the device body thereon, and a rodwhich is slidably arranged in the inside of the inner sleeve and isprovided with a contact member at a distal end thereof, wherein a springis interposed between a bottom portion of the rod and a bottom portionof the inner sleeve, the inner sleeve can be fixed at a given position,and the rod is biased upwardly from below using the spring.

Due to such a constitution, it is possible to support the cover deviceat a portion of the trunk room which is most rigid in view of thestructure of the trunk room in a prop-up manner and hence, it ispossible to store and arrange the cover device in the inside of thetrunk room in a stable state. Further, the constitution of the devicecan be also simplified.

Further, in such a constitution, it is preferable that engaging means isprovided between the rod and the inner sleeve and the rod can be engagedwith the inner sleeve at a pushed-down position. Due to such aconstitution, it is possible to perform the fixing operation of thecover device in the inside of the trunk lid more easily.

Further, it is preferable that the above-mentioned device body isextended between the stand portions such that an opening for reeling outand winding of the body cover formed in the device body faces a gapformed between an edge portion of a distal end of the trunk lid and anedge portion of an opening portion of the trunk room.

To be more specific, the reel-out/winding opening is formed in acylindrical casing which stores the drum of the device body and, at thesame time, the direction of the reel-out/winding opening at a positionwhere the device body is supported in a jerked state is directed towardthe gap formed between the edge portion of the distal end of the trunklid and the edge portion of the opening portion of the trunk room.

Due to such a constitution, the distal end of the body cover can besurely reeled out toward the rear window side from the gap.

Here, the device body can be replaceably mounted on the stand portions.That is, the device body is removed from the stand portions and storedat the time of none-use and is easily mounted on the stand portions atthe time of use thus further enhancing the easy-to-use property.

Further, the stand portions may be configured such that a pair of legseats which extend in the fore-and-aft direction of the trunk room and apair of support struts which are respectively mounted upright on thedistal end sides of the respective leg seats are provided, resilientsupport members which are respectively formed in an inverse-L-shape andmount contact members on extended distal end portions thereof are formedon upper end portions of both support struts in an extensible manner,and the above-mentioned pair of support struts are arranged on the depthside of the trunk room.

Due to such a constitution, the whole stand portions have anapproximately U-shape as viewed from the side and hence, the supportstruts can be arranged on the depth side of the trunk room whereby it ispossible to effectively make use of trunk room as much as possible.Further, even when the automobile is of a type which has a large depthin the trunk room, it is possible to cope with the automobile withoutdamaging the availability of the trunk room and hence, the compatibilityof the device body with respect to the mode of the trunk room can bebroadly unfolded. Further, since the leg seat is extended from the depthside to the front side, the stability of the device which is supportedin a projected manner is increased.

Further, the above-mentioned stand portions may be configured to beturned up side down or to be rotatable about an axis. In this case, itis possible to change the position of the support portions of the devicebody by rotating the stand portions or lay down the stand portions perse when the cover device is not used whereby it is possible to make moreeffective use of the space in the inside of the trunk room.

As has been explained heretofore, according to the present invention, itis possible to provide the high-quality body cover which exhibits theextremely favorable operability in the case the automobile is coveredwith the body cover and in the case the body cover is removed from theautomobile and is stored in the trunk room.

Particularly, when the body cover is pulled out from the cover devicewhich is stored in the trunk room and is unfolded, these operations canbe performed extremely easily and, at the same time, the foldingoperation which is performed at the time of storing the body cover canbe also facilitated. Further, the winding and storing operations in theinside of the trunk room can be substantially fully automaticallyperformed and hence, the operability is enhanced whereby the operationto cover the automobile body which has been cumbersome conventionallycan be extremely easily performed up to the storing of the body coverthus providing the cover device which exhibits the extremely highpractical use.

Hereinafter, the automobile body cover (hereinafter referred to as “bodycover”) A according to the embodiment of the present invention isspecifically explained together with the automobile body cover device Bprovided with the body cover A (hereinafter referred to as “coverdevice”) in conjunction with the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a use state of the cover device Bprovided with the body cover A according to this embodiment. The coverdevice B is, as shown in the drawing, configured to be used in a statethat the cover device B is stored in the inside of the trunk room 10 ofan automobile 1. The cover device B is mounted such that the coverdevice B can reel out and wind the body cover A into the cover device B.In the drawing, numeral 11 indicates a trunk lid, numeral 12 indicates arear glass of a rear window portion, numeral 13 indicates a rear seat,and numeral 14 indicates a roof portion.

Here, the cover device B which uses the body cover A of the presentinvention is not always of a type which is arranged in the trunk room 10as described above. That is, the constitution of the cover device B isnot particularly limited.

First of all, the first embodiment of the body cover A which constitutesan essential part of the present invention is specifically explained.

(First Embodiment)

FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 are explanatory views of the body cover A as viewedfrom above, wherein FIG. 2 is the explanatory view showing the wholebody cover A in an unfolded state, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showingthe body cover A with one side thereof in a folded state, and FIG. 4 isan explanatory view showing the body cover A folded in three. Further,FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the body cover Ais reeled out to a roof portion 14 of the automobile 1, and FIG. 6 is anexplanatory view showing a state in which the body cover A is mounted onthe automobile 1 according to this embodiment. Here, the automobile 1 ofthis embodiment is a so-called sedan type which projects a trunk thereofrearwardly.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body cover A of this embodiment is configuredsuch that on a cover body 2 which substantially constitutes the bodycover A and is formed in a shape which allows the cover body 2 to covera roof portion 14 and front, rear, left and right window portions of theautomobile 1, a plurality of core members 21 are arranged in parallel toeach other at a given interval at positions which cross the reel-outdirection and the winding direction of the body cover A.

The cover body 2 uses chemical fibers such as polyester, nylon or thelike as a material thereof, uses a material to which SV coating isapplied and which exhibits the excellent waterproof and weatherability.Further, the cover body 2 is foldable in three in the longitudinaldirection along fold line portions 7 into a center portion 2C whichcovers the front and rear window portions and a roof portion 14 and aleft-side portion 2L and a right-side portion 2R which cover the leftand right window portions, and the above-mentioned core members 21(21-L,21-R, 21-C) are formed on the center portion 2C, the left-side portion2L and the right-side portion 2R.

As shown in the drawing, two fold line portions 7 are formed in parallelfor guiding folding, wherein the substantial fold line portions 7 in thefirst embodiment constitute seamed portions between the above-mentionedcenter portion 2C and the left-side portion 2L and the right-sideportion 2R in the cover body 2. In short, the center portion 2C and theleft-side portion 2L and the right-side portion 2R are not integrallyand continuously formed but are formed in a line shape such that thecenter portion 2C, the left-side portion 2L and the right-side portion2R are easily folded using the seamed portions as boundaries.

The core members 21 are produced by forming a plate-like spring steelinto a strip shape and has a width of 12 mm and a thickness of 0.3 mm.With the use of such spring steel, it is possible to impart a sufficientrigidity to the cover body 2 and, at the same time, there is nopossibility that the weight is largely increased. Further, a length ofthe core members 21 may be suitably changed in conformity with the sizeof the automobile 1. Still further, the body covers A per se may beprepared in different sizes. With respect to these core members 21, inthis embodiment, five core members 21 are mounted on the above-mentionedcenter portion 2C from the front side at an equal interval and, at thesame time, four core members 21 are mounted on the left-side portion 2Land the right-side portion 2R from also the front side at an equalinterval respectively.

Here, there mounting positions are offset from each other such that therespective core members 21 are not overlapped to each other when thebody cover A is folded in three (see FIG. 4). That is, in thisembodiment, the core members 21-R which are respectively mounted on theright-side portion 2R are slightly displaced in the frontward directionwith respective to the core members 21-C which are respectively mountedon the center portion 2C, while the core members 21-L which arerespectively mounted on the left-side portion 2L are also slightlydisplaced in the rearward direction with respect to the core members21-C which are respectively mounted on the center portion 2C, thusoffsetting the arrangement positions of the respective core members21-C, 21-R, 21-L from each other. Accordingly, it is possible toeliminate the possibility that the body cover A folded in three becomesexcessively thick thus obstructing the winding operation.

Further, on the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the body cover A,also in the vicinity of a front edge portion which is positioned infront of the roof portion 14 of the automobile 1, as core members forthe front edge, short core members 21-S which has a length approximately⅓ of a length of other core members 21 are formed.

In FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, numeral 22 indicates gore portions which are formedfor absorbing a gap between a state in which the cover body 2 of thebody cover A is unfolded and a state in which the automobile 1 isactually covered with the cover body 2 in a good shape, wherein the goreportions 22 are formed at front and rear sides of left and right-sideportions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2.

At the time of fitting the body cover A on the automobile 1 by foldingthe gore potions 22, to facilitate the folding, core members 21-M arealso formed on fold lines of the gore potions 22 which form anapproximately V shape and, at the same time, hook-and-loop fasteners 23which are served for holding the folded shape are provided.

With the provision of the gore portions having such a constitution, itis possible to increase the strength of the folded portions and, at thesame time, the automobile 1 and the body cover A fit each other thusenhancing the aesthetic appearance. Here, among these gore portions 22,in the vicinity of the gore portions which are provided at the frontside, slits which allow side mirrors 17 to pass through the goreportions 22 may be formed.

Further, the above-mentioned hook-and-loop fasteners 23, 23 . . . 23are, as showing in the drawing, formed in a rectangular shape and areprovided to suitable positions of the cover body 2. The hook-and-loopfasteners 23 are useful not only for holding a favorable cover shape byfolding the above-mentioned gore portions 22 at the time of actuallycovering the automobile 1 with the body cover A but also for maintainingthe body cover A in a three-folded state at the time of folding thecover body 2 in three. Since these hook-and-loop fasteners 23 arelight-weighted and have a sufficient bonding strength, the hook-and-loopfasteners 23 can be suitably adopted by the cover body 2.

Numeral 24 indicates a pipe-like are bottom bar which is formed on adistal-end edge of the center portion 2C and is provided for ensuringthe smooth movement of the cover body 2 in a stable state whilepreventing the turning of the cover body 2 at the time of reeling-outthe cover body 2.

The bottom bar 24 is provided with suction cups 25 as temporary fixingmeans. These suction cups 25 are available with respect to a point thatby temporarily fixing the cover body 2 to the bonnet 15 at the time ofreeling out the body cover A, it is possible to prevent the body cover Afrom slipping down due to wind. Here, although two suction cups 25 areprovided in this embodiment, one suction cup 25 may be provided at anapproximately center position of the bottom bar 24.

Numeral 26 indicates a drum connecting portion which is formed on a rearend edge of the center portion 2C positioned opposite to theabove-mentioned bottom bar 24. A hook-and-loop fasteners or a linefastener or the like can be used as the drum connecting portion. Thedrum connecting portion 26 can be replaceably mounted on a drum of adevice body 3 of in the cover device B described later. Accordingly, itis possible to easily perform the exchange of only the body cover A.

Numeral 27 indicates hooks which are provided to front and rear sides atthe left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2 by way ofconnecting strings 27 a formed of rubber or the like which is elongatedand shrunken in the fore-and-aft direction of the left and right-sideportions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2. The hooks 27 can be mounted onfenders 16 or the like of the automobile 1 when the body cover A ismounted on the automobile 1. Further, although not showing in thedrawing, pocket portions are formed on the cover body 2 for storing thehook portions 27 at the time of folding the cover body 2 to prevent thehook portions 27 from impeding the folding operation.

Numeral 28 indicates engaging holes which are formed in center portionsof end edges of the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the coverbody 2. As shown in FIG. 7, using a winding rope 28 a which is providedwith a hook on distal ends thereof, it is possible to easily pull up oneof the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2 from theside opposite to the winding side.

Here, in place of using such a winding rope 28 a, for example, asindicated by an imaginary line (chain line) in FIG. 2, sheet pull-upbelts 30 may be respectively extended between the end edge portions ofthe left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2 and thevicinities of the end portions of the center portion 2C which constituteboundaries with side portions (2L, 2R) opposite the end peripheralportions of the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R.

Due to such a constitution, an operator can easily pull up the left andright-side portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2 onto the roof portion 14without requiring the operator to shift himself to the opposite side andwithout using the above-mentioned winding rope28 a.

Further, numeral 29 indicates line fasteners which are formed onapproximately center portions at end edges of the left and right-sideportions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2. The line fasteners 29 can divideeach one of the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2into the front side and the rear side and, at the same time, the linefasteners 29 are formed on the divided portions thus enabling thefolding of the front side and the folding of the rear side separately onthe roof portion 14 when necessary as shown in FIG. 8. Accordingly, evenwhen the wind is strong, since the left and right-side portions 2L, 2Rare divided into small areas, it is possible to easily perform thefolding operation without being strongly influenced by the resistance ofthe wind.

The body cover A according to this embodiment has the above-mentionedconstitution and a case in which the body cover A is actually unfoldedand folded is explained in conjunction with FIG. 3 to FIG. 6.

In this embodiment, in folding the body cover A in three to store thebody cover A mounted on the automobile 1, the folding is started fromthe left-side portion 2L. As shown in FIG. 3, first of all, theleft-side portion 2L is jerked. Here, due to the provision of the foldline portion 7, by performing the jerking operation while holding afront portion of the left-side portion 2L, it is possible to smoothlyfold back the left-side portion 2L ranging from the front portion to therear portion. Then, by bonding the hook-and-loop fasteners 23 which areformed at given positions together, the left-side portion 2L isoverlapped to the center portion 2C such that the positionaldisplacement is not generated. Next, the right-side portion 2R is jerkedin the same manner. Also in this case, by bonding the hook-and-loopfasteners 23 which are formed at given positions together, theright-side portion 2R is overlapped to the center portion 2C and theleft-side portion 2L such that the positional displacement is notgenerated (FIG. 4). In this case, as mentioned previously, the hooks 27may be stored in the pocket portions. Alternatively, the above-mentionedwinding rope 28 a may be used, the line fastener 29 is opened so as toseparate each one of the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R into thefront side and the rear side and, thereafter, the front side and therear side are separately jerked, or when the body cover device includesthe sheet pull-up belts 30, the sheet pull-up belts 30 may be used.

Then, when the body cover A which is folded in three is slightly pulledin the frontward direction, the body cover A is automatically wound bythe winding means which is mounted on the cover device B. Also in thiscase, since the core members 21 are formed on the body cover A, the bodycover A is smoothly wound without collapsing the shape thereof.

With respect to the unfolding of the body cover A for mounting the bodycover A on the automobile 1, the unfolding operation is performed inaccordance of steps opposite to the above-mentioned steps as shown inFIG. 5. That is, the body cover A is reeled out in a three-fold state tothe roof portion 14 of the automobile 1 from the cover device B. Thesuction cups 25 formed on the bottom bar 24 are adhered to the bonnet 15to temporarily fix the body cover A and the whole body cover A is heldin a stable state. The hook-and-loop fasteners 23 are separated fromeach other and the right-side portion 2R of the cover body 2 is jerkedsideward. In the same manner, the left-side portion 2L of the cover body2 is jerked sideward. Also in this case, since the core members 21 areformed on the fold line portions 7, 7 and the left and right-sideportions 2L, 2R, it is possible to manipulate the respective left andright-side portions 2L, 2R as a whole thus realizing the extremely easyhandling of the body cover A.

Then, when the unfolding of the cover body 2 is finished, the shape isarranged by folding gore portions 22 and a good shape is held by thehook-and-loop fasteners 23. Then, the hooks 27 (omitted in FIG. 6) areengaged with the fenders 16 so as to allow the cover body 2 to firmlycover the front, rear, left and right windows (front glass, rear glass,left and right side glasses) 18, 12, 19, 19 and the roof portion 14 asshown in FIG. 6.

In this manner, it is possible to surely cover the front, rear, left andright windows 18, 12, 19, 19 and the roof portion 14 by forming thecover body 2 in a compact size of minimum necessity. Accordingly, it ispossible to prevent the inside of the automobile 1 from elevating to thehigh temperature by a solar heat in summer season and can preventfreezing of windows and fallen snow in winter season. Further, since thecover body 2 can cover the automobile 1 in a state that the cover body 2fits the automobile 1, the cover body 2 exhibits the good appearance.

Next, as a modification of the above-mentioned body cover A, a bodycover A shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is explained.

This body cover A is characterized in that gore line fasteners 29′ areprovided at positions where the core members 21-M are formed on thefolds of the above-mentioned gore portions 22. Here, numeral 31 in thedrawing indicates door mirror slits. Since other constitutions aresubstantially equal to the constitutions explained heretofore, theirexplanation is omitted.

By providing the gore line fasteners 29′ as shown in this modification,the gore portions 22 are neatly arranged and hence, as shown in FIG. 10,it is possible to fit the body cover A on the automobile 1 easily and ingood appearance.

Further, in this modification, while three core members 21 are mountedon the above-mentioned center portion 2C at an equal interval from thefront side and, at the same time, two core members 21 are mounted on theleft-side portion 2L and the right-side portion 2R respectively.

As has been explained above, the body cover A of this embodiment canprevent the collapse of shape at the time of reeling out or winding thebody cover A and hence, the body cover A can remarkably enhance theoperability with respect to a series of operations to cover theautomobile 1.

Next, the cover device B is explained in conjunction with FIG. 1 andFIG. 11 which is an explanatory view of the cover device B as viewedfrom the side.

The cover device B includes a device body 3 which is configured to reelout and wind the above-mentioned body cover A and a stand portion 4which mounts the device body 3 by way of a link mechanism 5 thereon. Aresilient support member 6 is mounted on the stand portion 4 in aprop-up manner and the cover device B can be housed in the inside of theabove-mentioned trunk room 10 in a state that the cover device B issupported in a prop-up manner between inner walls of the trunk room 10by way of the resilient support member 6. Further, the above-mentioneddevice body 3 is configured to be movable obliquely and in parallel froman upper position which is a use position to a lower position which is anon-use position.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned resilient support member 6 canbe supported in a prop-up manner in the vertical direction and, as shownin FIG. 11, can be interposed between a ceiling wall 10 a and a bottomwall 10 b which constitute inner walls of the trunk room 10.

The stand portion 4 which contiguously mounts the device body 3 thereonis constituted of a pair of support struts 40, 40 with a given distancetherebetween and each support strut 40 is configured as follows. Thatis, an outer sleeve 42 is mounted upright on the vicinity of one endside of an elongated-plate-like leg seat 41 which laminates a buffermaterial 41 a such as rubber on a lower surface thereof. The buffermaterial 41 a also functions as a slip stopper. A bottomed inner sleeve43 is slidably fitted into the inside of the outer sleeve 42. A rod 61which forms a female thread portion at the center thereof is slidablyfitted into the inside of the inner sleeve 43. Further, a coil spring(see FIG. 12 and FIG. 14 though being omitted in FIG. 11) which biasesthe rod 61 is arranged between a bottom portion of the rod 61 and theinner sleeve 43.

Further, a threaded rod 63 for adjusting a projection length whichtiltably and pivotally mounts a contact member 62 on a distal endthereof is threadedly engaged with the female thread portion of the rod61.

In this manner, the resilient support member 6 is constituted of the rod61, the contact member 62 and the threaded rod 63 including theabove-mentioned coil spring and is served for interposing the coverdevice B between the ceiling wall 10 a and the bottom wall 10 b of thetrunk room 10.

Further, small sleeve bodies 42 a are respectively contiguously formedon lower sides of peripheral surfaces of the respective outer sleeves 42and a connection rod 44 which has both ends thereof bent is extendedbetween the small sleeve bodies 42 a so as to stabilize the left andright support struts 40, 40.

Further, in this embodiment, as described above, the device body 3 ismounted on the stand portion 4 by way of the link mechanism 5. Further,the device body 3 is configured to be replaceable.

The link mechanism 5 is configured as follows. That is, a lower bracket51 and an upper bracket 52 are respectively mounted on a lower portionand an upper portion of the inner sleeve 43 of the stand portion 4, aproximal end of the lower arm 53 is pivotally connected to the lowerbracket 51, a proximal end of an upper arm 54 having a stopper ispivotally connected to the upper bracket 52, and distal ends of the botharms 53, 54 are pivotally connected to each other by way of a connectionlink arm 55.

Then, between the upper and lower brackets 52, 51, a spring supportfitting 56 is provided to the above-mentioned inner cylinder 43, whilethe spring support fitting 56 and a pivotally connecting portion 57which is formed between the lower arm 53 and the connection link arm 55are connected by a link coil spring 58.

Further, in a distal end portion of the above-mentioned upper arm 54having the stopper, a regulation groove 54 a having an approximately Mshape, for example, which constitutes displacement regulation means isformed, and a pin 55 a which is formed on the connecting link arm 55 isengaged with the regulation groove 54 a.

Due to such a constitution, as indicated by a solid line and a chainline shown in FIG. 11, with the action of the link mechanism 5, thedevice body 3 is approximately moved in parallel in the rear downwarddirection from the use position and is stored. On the other hand, inpositioning the device body 3 at the uppermost position whichconstitutes the use position, the body cover A can be easily reeled outthrough a gap 11 b defined between a proximal end 11 a of the trunk lid11 and the rear glass 12, while when the device body 3 is not used, bymoving the device body 3 approximately in parallel in the rear downwarddirection from the posture in the use state, the device body 3 can bestored in the inside of the trunk room 10 without being brought intocontact with the trunk lid 11 and in a state that the inside of thetrunk room 10 is effectively used (see FIG. 1).

That is, when the cover device B is not used, it is possible to make useof a lower space in the inside of the trunk room 10 widely and otherluggage can be easily stored even in a state that the cover device B ofthis embodiment is stored in the inside of the trunk room 10.

Here, as mentioned previously, the device body 3 is replaceably mountedon the stand portion 4. To explain this constitution, as shown in FIG.11, a device body mounting portion 8 is formed on a distal end of theconnection link arm 55 and lock means 80 which fixes the device body 3is mounted on the device body mounting portion 8.

The lock means 80 is constituted by mounting an approximately arcuatelock spring 82 made of spring steel on a toggle-type lever 81 formed inan approximately L shape, wherein an engaging portion 82 a formed on adistal end of the lock spring 82 is engageable with a lock peripheralportion 3 a formed on a bottom portion at the device body 3 side wherebythe device body 3 can be easily mounted on the device body mountingportion 8 with a snap fitting. Since the lock means 80 is mounted on anopening portion side of the trunk room 10, the operability is alsoenhanced.

Further, the cover device B of this embodiment can perform the heightadjustment of the stand portion 4 by fixing the outer sleeve 42 and theinner sleeve 43 using a pin as a stopper.

That is, a large number of positioning through holes 46 are formed inthe outer sleeve 42 at a small interval, the inner sleeve 43 is slidablymoved in the inside of the outer sleeve 42, a stopper pin 47 is insertedinto the above-mentioned positioning through holes 46 at a positionwhere the stand portion 4 assumes a proper height thus restricting theheight position of the inner sleeve 43. Here, the proper height of thestand portion 4 means a height which allows the coil spring stored inthe inside of the inner sleeve 43 to sufficiently bias the rod 61upwardly and the contact member 62 is supported in the inside of thetrunk room 10 in a prop-up manner.

Next, to briefly explain the internal structure of the device body 3,although omitted from the drawing, the device body 3 includes a drumwhich winds the body cover A and winding means which winds the bodycover A on the drum. As the winding means, any mechanism such as amechanical mechanism, an electric mechanism or the like can be adopted.The type can be suitably decided in view of the weight, the size, thecost and the like. In this embodiment, the mechanical constitution whichreturns the drum by making use of a restoring force of the spring isadopted.

Here, the first to third modifications of the cover device B areexplained in conjunction with FIG. 12 to FIG. 17. Here, with respect tosymbols used in these modifications, with respect to constitutionalelements which are identical with those explained in conjunction withFIG. 11, the same symbols are used. Numeral 400 indicates a coil springwhich is omitted in FIG. 11.

Particularly, the first modification and the second modification shownin FIG. 12 to FIG. 15 are characterized by the constitution of the standportion 4. The stand portion 4 has the basic constitution which includesa pair of leg seats 41 extending in the fore-and-aft direction of thetrunk room 10 and a pair of support struts 40, 40 which are respectivelymounted on both leg seats 41, 41 upright in the same manner as the standportion 4. Here, however, the above-mentioned pair of support struts 40,40 are mounted upright in the vicinities of proximal ends of theelongated-plate-like leg seats 41 and, at the same time, the resilientsupport members 6′ are formed in an inversed L shape and are mounted onupper end portions of the above-mentioned respective left and rightsupport struts 40. Then, contact members 62 are formed on the extendeddistal end portions of the resilient support members 6′.

Due to such a constitution, it is possible to arrange the pair ofsupport struts 40, 40 at the deepest position of the trunk room 10 andhence, the trunk room 10 can be effectively used as much as possible.

The link mechanism 5 which supports the device body 3 in the coverdevice B according to the first modification shown in FIG. 12 and FIG.13 adopts a five-link system and is configured such that it issufficient for an operator only to pull the device body 3 in thefrontward direction in use.

That is, on the inner side of the inversely-L-shaped resilient supportmember 6′, a fork-shaped hinge base member 100 is arranged approximatelyparallel to the resilient support member 6′ and, at the same time, onleft and right distal end portions of the hinge base member 100,proximal end portions of a pair of first links 5-1, 5-1 which arerespectively formed in an inversely L-shaped shape are mounted by way ofa first pivot shaft 101. Further, a second pivot shaft 102 is providedto a portion of the hinge base member 100 slightly behind the firstpivot shaft 101 and second links 5-2, 5-2 are connected by way of thesecond pivot shaft 102. Further, respective distal end portions of thesecond link 5-2 and the first link 5-1 are pivotally connected to aproximal end side of the third link 5-3 with a fixed distancetherebetween. Numeral 103, 104 indicate third and fourth pivot shafts.

The third pivot shaft 103 penetrates the second link 5-2 and the thirdlink 5-3 and a distal end of a spring stay 110 which incorporates acompression coil spring (not shown in the drawing) is rotatablyconnected to the third pivot shaft 103. Here, a proximal end of thespring stay 110 is pivotally supported on a lower bracket 51 of thesupport strut 40.

Further, to a top distal end portion of the first link 5-1 which isformed in an inversely L shape, a proximal end of a fourth link 5-4 isconnected by way of a fifth pivot shaft 105. Further, a distal endportion of the fourth link 5-4 and a distal end portion of the thirdlink 5-3 are pivotally connected to a proximal end side of the fifthlink 5-5 with a fixed distance therebetween. Numerals 106, 107 indicatesixth and seventh pivot shafts.

Then, the device body 3 is mounted on a distal end of the fifth link5-5.

First and second stoppers S1, S2 are formed on the hinge base member 100and a movable range of the link mechanism 5 as a whole is restricted byallowing the first link 5-1 and the second link 5-2 to come into contactwith the first and second stoppers S1, S2 and the position of the devicebody 3 at the time of use and the position of the device body 3 at thetime of non-use can be determined corresponding to the restrictionpositions.

Due to such a constitution, in the course of the operation to pull thedevice body 3 in the direction toward the operator, the spring stay 110performs an operation to push the device body 3 upwardly and hence, thedevice body 3 can be pulled out easily with a magnified force. Further,due to an action of the link mechanism 5, a rotational locus of thedevice body 3 does not draw a large arc upwardly as well as downwardlyand hence, it is possible to smoothly perform the pull-out operation andthe push-in operation of the device body 3 in the inside of the trunkroom 10.

Further, to explain the stand portion 4 according to the secondmodification shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, this modification also hasthe same constitution as the first modification. That is, a pair ofsupport struts 40, 40 are mounted upright in the vicinities of proximalends of the elongated-plate-like leg seats 41 and, at the same time, theresilient support members 6′ are formed in an inversed L-shape and aremounted on upper end portions of the above-mentioned respective left andright support struts 40 in an extensible manner, and a contact member 62is mounted on an extended distal end portion of the resilient supportmembers 6′. However, while the first modification movably supports thedevice body 3 using the five-link-method link mechanism 5, thismodification supports the device body 3 using the combination of a slidemechanism 200 and a tilting mechanism 300.

That is, at the inner side of the inversely L-shaped resilient supportmembers 6′, a guide rail 210 is arranged approximately parallel to theresilient support members 6′, Further, a slide body 215 is slidablymounted on the guide rail 210, a tiltable arm 220 is tiltably mounted onthe slide body 215 and the device body 3 is mounted on the tiltable arm220.

On a proximal end portion of the tiltable arm 220 which substantiallyconstitutes a tilting mechanism 300, a tilting restriction portion 230is mounted. The tilting restriction portion 230 is formed in a U-shapedcross-sectional shape and is mounted on left and right side surfaceportions of the slide body 215 such that the tilting restriction portion230 strides over the slide body 215 from below. Then, guide grooves 240are formed in left and right side surfaces of the tilting restrictionportion 230 and, at the same time, in recessed portions 250, 250 formedin a distal end and a terminal end of groove 240, an approximatelyT-shaped fixing pin 260 which is vertically movably arranged on a lowerportion of the slide body 215 falls and is held.

Accordingly, when the fixing pin 260 is pushed upwardly and isdisengaged from the recessed portions 250, the fixing pin 260 is guidedby guide grooves 240 and hence, the device body 3 is tiltable in thefore-and-aft direction between the use position and the non-useposition.

Further, a ball plunger 270 is mounted on a lower surface portion of theslide body 215 to hold the device body 3 in a stable manner at the useposition and the non-use position.

Due to such a constitution, by pulling out the device body 3 toward theuser from the non-use position by way of the slide body 215, by rotatingthe device body 3 upwardly together with the tiltable arm 220 bymanipulating the above-mentioned fixing pin 260, and by making thefixing pin 260 fall in the recessed portions 250 and holding the fallenpin 260 in the recessed portions 250, it is possible to support thedevice body 3 at the given use position in a stable manner. The casethat the device body 3 is returned from the use position to the non-useposition is performed in reverse steps.

Next, a modification of a contact member 62′ which constitutes a portionof the resilient support members 6 is explained in conjunction with FIG.16 and FIG. 17. Here, the constitutions other than the structure of thecontact member 62′ are substantially equal to the constitutions whichare explained in conjunction with FIG. 11.

The contact member 62′ of this modification is characterized in that thecontact member 62′ is provided with an engaging member 620 which isengaged with an end portion 10 a′ of a ceiling wall 10 a of the trunkroom 10. The engaging member 620 is mounted on a lower portion of a padportion 62 a which is directly brought into contact with the ceilingwall 10 a such that the engaging member 620 is slidable and can befixed.

In FIG. 17, numeral 621 indicates a slide member which is contiguouslyformed with the engaging member 620. The slide member 621 is slidablyinserted into the inside of a gap formed between a press member 622which is arranged on a lower portion of the pad portion 62 a and a lowersurface of the pad portion 62 a. Numeral 623 indicates a fixing bolt formounting the press member 622 on the pad portion 62 a and numeral 624indicates a positioning bolt for fixing the slide member 621 at anarbitrary position.

Due to the above-mentioned constitution, even when a sudden impact inthe fore-and-aft direction is applied to the cover device B in a statethat the cover device B is stored and arranged in the inside of thetrunk room 10, since the engaging member 620 is firmly engaged with theend portion 10 a′ of the ceiling wall 10 of the trunk room 10, thepossibility that the cover device B jumps toward a front portion of thetrunk room 10 against the supporting of the cover device B by thevertical prop-up of the cover device B can be eliminated thus enhancingthe safety of the cover device B.

Hereinafter, steps in which the cover device B according to thisembodiment including the above-mentioned modifications is actuallyarranged in the trunk room 10 of the automobile 1, the body cover Aaccording to this embodiment is reeled out, the body cover A covers theautomobile body, and the body cover A is removed and is stored in theinside of the trunk room 10 are explained. Here, it is assumed that, atan initial point of time, the device body 3 assumes a state in which thedevice body 3 is removed from the stand portion 4.

First of all, the trunk lid 11 is opened, the stand portion 4 is mountedbetween the ceiling wall 10 a and the bottom wall 10 b of a depthportion which is formed of a relatively rigid frame in the inside of thetrunk room 10, the inner sleeve 43 is set to a suitable height so as tobring the contact member 62 into contact with the ceiling wall 10 a and,at the same time, a length of the threaded rod 63 is adjusted to supportthe cover device B with a suitable jerking force. Here, with the use ofa lever 610 which is mounted on the rod 61 in an projecting manner (seeFIG. 11 to FIG. 17), the manipulation can be performed easily.

Then, the device body 3 is locked using the lock means 80 after mountingand, thereafter, the device body 3 is pulled upwardly. At such aposition, the bottom bar 24 of the body cover A faces the gap 11 bdefined between the proximal end portion 11 a of the trunk lid 11 andthe rear glass 12. That is, the device body 3 is set such that thereeled-out body cover A can advance along the rear glass 12.

Next, the bottom bar 24 of the body cover A is gripped and pulled out.The body cover A is made to pass on to the roof portion 14 through thegap 11 b along the rear glass 12. The bottom bars 24 is positioned tothe lower and front end of the front glass 18 and, thereafter, thesuction cup 25 is made to suck the bonnet 15 thus temporarily fixing thebody cover A.

In this embodiment, with respect to the reeled-out body cover A, theright-side portion 2R of the cover body 2 is overlapped at the uppermostposition. Accordingly, the hook-and-loop fastener 23 for temporaryfixing is removed and the right-side portion 2R is jerked and unfoldedin the sideward direction and, thereafter, the left-side portion 2L isjerked and unfolded in the sideward direction. Here, the core members 21which feature the present invention are formed on the left andright-side portions 2L, 2R and hence, it is possible to unfold theleft-side and right-side portions 2L, 2R with a single jerking operationrespectively whereby the handling of the body cover A becomes extremelyeasy.

Then, after unfolding the cover body 2, the gore portions 22 are foldedto neatly arrange the shape of the cover body 2, wherein it is possibleto easily fit the cover body 2 on the automobile 1 by neatly arrangingthe cover body 2 using the hook-and-loop fasteners 23 or closing thegore line fasteners 29′ with respect to the cover body 2 provided withthe gore line fasteners 29′. Finally, the hooks 27 are engaged with thefenders 16 thus completing the covering operation.

Next, to wind the body cover A into the inside of the trunk room 10, thehooks 27 are removed and are respectively stored in given pockets formedon the cover body 2. First of all, the left-side portion 2L is jerkedupwardly and is overlapped to the center portion 2C such that thehook-and-loop fasteners 23 which are provided at given positions areconnected to each other to prevent the positional displacement of theleft-side portion 2L. Here, in place of storing the hooks 27 in thepockets, hook-and-loop fasteners may be provided at positions close tothe pockets and hooks 27 may be simply mounted on the hook-and-loopfasteners. In this case, corresponding hook-and-loop fasteners areprovided also to the hook 27 side.

Subsequently, the right-side portion 2R is jerked upwardly and is alsooverlapped to the center portion 2C and the left-side portion 2L suchthat the hook-and-loop fasteners 23 which are provided at givenpositions are connected to each other to prevent the positionaldisplacement of the right-side portion 2R. In performing the jerkingoperation, as mentioned previously, it is possible to use the windingropes 28 a, the line fastener 29 or sheet pull-up belts 30.

Thereafter, the suction cups of the bottom bar 24 are removed from thebonnet 15. By slightly pulling the body cover A which is folded in threein the frontward direction while gripping the bottom bar 24, the windingmeans mounted on the cover body B is operated so that the body cover Ais automatically wound in the inside of the device body 3 arranged inthe inside of the trunk room 10.

Here, since the core members 21 are formed on the cover body 2, thecover body 2 is smoothly wound without collapsing the shape thereof.Finally, the trunk lid 11 is closed.

With respect to such a winding operation and the previously-mentionedcovering operation, the manipulation is extremely simple and hence, therespective operation can be finished within two to four minutes.

As has been explained heretofore, according to this embodiment, it ispossible to easily store and arrange the cover device B in the inside ofthe trunk room 10 without remodeling or injuring the inside of the trunkroom 10 and, at the same time, it is possible to perform the reeling-outand the winding of the body cover A.

(Second Embodiment)

A body cover A according to the second embodiment is explained inconjunction with FIG. 18 to FIG. 26. The body cover A of this embodimenthas, as shown in FIG. 26, a shape which is suitable for a so-calledwagon-type automobile with a truck which is not projected rearwardly.Further, the body cover A can be extremely easily used in a single formwithout using a cover device B. Here, with respect to symbols used inthe drawing, same symbols which are used in the first embodiments areused to indicate the identical constitutional elements.

As shown in FIG. 18, the body cover A according to this embodiment hasthe substantially same basic constitution as the above-mentionedmodification (see FIG. 9) of the first embodiment, while gore linefasteners 29′ are formed on gore portions 22 and, at the same time,reinforcing portions 36 are formed in the vicinity of the gore portions22.

Further, a vertically downwardly extending portion 2CR which extendssubstantially vertically downwardly is formed on a rear portion of thecover body 2 and the vertically downwardly extending portion 2CR andleft and right-side portions 2L, 2R are connected to each other by theline fasteners 29″. Due to such a constitution, it is possible to coverthe wagon-type automobile with the cover body 2 in a state the coverbody 2 is snugly fitted on a rear portion of the automobile.

Slits 31 for side mirrors (door mirrors) 17 in this embodiment are cutto end edges of the left and right-side portions 2L, 2R. As shown inFIG. 19 and FIG. 20, after the side mirror 17 is allowed to pass throughthe slit 31, slit skirt portions 32 can be connected to each other usingstrings 33. Further, the cover body 2 can be locked by engaging aring-shaped lock 35 with a ring through hole 34 formed on one side ofthe slit 31. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a theft of the bodycover A. Although a so-called number lock is used as a lock portion ofthe ring-like lock 35 in this embodiment, any lock can be used so longas the lock performs a locking function.

The body cover A of this embodiment can, as explained previously, beused in a single form without using the cover device B and the actualmanner of using the body cover A is specifically explained hereinafterin conjunction with FIG. 21 to FIG. 25. Here, the explanation is madewith respect to steps from a state in which the automobile 1 is coveredwith the body cover A (see FIG. 26) to a state in which the body cover Acan be folded and stored. In FIG. 26, numerals 24 a, 24 b indicateautomobile mounting hooks which are mounted in the inside of apipe-shaped bottom bar 24 such that the automobile mounting hooks 24 a,24 b can be stored and pulled out (see FIG. 21). Further, the automobilemounting hooks 24 a, 24 b are connected with the bottom bar 24 usingrubber strips 24 a′, 24′b. Here, in FIG. 21 to FIG. 25, the illustrationof the automobile 1 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 21, from a state (FIG. 21( a)) in which the body coverA is unfolded over the roof by releasing line fasteners 29″ and the likeof the body cover A which covers the automobile 1 (see FIG. 26), one endof the right-side portion 2R of the cover body 2 is gripped by a handand is jerked and folded such that the right-side portion 2R isoverlapped to the center portion 2C (FIG. 21( b)).

Here, also in this embodiment, since fold line portions 7, 7 and coremembers 21-R are formed on the right-side portion 2R, it is possible toeasily perform the jerking operation and the folding of the right-sideportion 2R. To consider a case in which the core members 21-R are notformed, as indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 22, although the frontend side which the user grips with his hand can be folded, since theright-side portion 2R has no rigidity, the rear side of the right-sideportion 2R cannot be folded and hence, the right-side portion 2R assumesa collapsed shape. Accordingly, the operator has to move to fold therear side and hence, the handling of the cover body 2 becomes extremelycumbersome.

As shown in FIG. 23( a), after making the right-side portion 2R of thecover body 2 assume a state in which the right-side portion 2R isoverlapped to the center portion 2C, the left-side portion 2L of thecover body 2 is jerked and is overlapped to the center portion 2C in thesame manner (FIG. 23( b)).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 24, the body cover A which is folded inthree is further folded in two in the fore-and-oft direction. Further,as shown in FIG. 25, the body cover A is further folded and, thereafter,the body cover A is wrapped about the overlapped bottom bars 24 and thebody cover A is fastened with bands 71 which are prepared separately tohold the body cover A in a compact roll shape, and the body cover A isstored in a suitable place.

Here, to mount the body cover A on the automobile 1, the reverse stepsare taken. Also in mounting the body cover A, due to the provision ofthe fold line portions 7, 7 and the core members 21, the handling of theleft and right-side portion 2L, 2R becomes extremely easy. Further, asmentioned previously, even when the strong wind blows, by deflecting thecore members 21, it is possible to make the body cover A take the lowposture to exclude the resistance of the wind as much as possiblewhereby the mounting operation can be performed easily.

By the way, in mounting the above-mentioned body cover A over theautomobile 1, there may be a case that an antenna 14 a of any type isprovided to the center portion of the roof portion 14 of the automobile1 as shown in FIG. 27.

In view of the above, to enable the body cover A to cover also theantenna 14 a, as shown in FIG. 28, an antenna protecting jig C is usedso as to prevent the body cover A from being directly brought intocontact with the antenna 14 a.

The above-mentioned antenna protecting jig C is, as shown in FIG. 29,configured such that a ring portion C2 which allows the antenna 14 a topass therethrough is mounted in a projecting manner on a middle portionof a body portion C1 which is formed in an arcuate shape and, at thesame time, a support bar C4 which is provided with suction members C3such as suction cups at left and right ends thereof is mounted on therear end of the body portion. As a material of the antenna protectingjig C, a rod-like material made of metal, synthetic resin or the likecan be preferably used.

As shown in FIG. 30, the suction members C3 are adhered to the rearglass 12 or the like by suction to mount the antenna protecting jig C ina stable manner while allowing the antenna 14 a to pass through the ringportion C2.

A state in which the automobile 1 is covered with the body cover A usingthe antenna protecting jig C is shown in FIG. 31. The antenna 14 a is,as mentioned previously, not directly brought into contact with the bodycover A and hence, there is no possibility that the antenna 14 a isbroken during the mounting and dismounting of the body cover A wherebyanyone can safely use the above-mentioned body cover A of thisembodiment.

Further, as an example of the body cover A for an automobile having anantenna 14 a, the constitution shown in FIG. 32 may be adopted.

That is, a longitudinal antenna passing slit 31 a is provided to aposition which corresponds to the antenna 14 a mounted on the automobile1. As shown in the drawing, when the body cover A is automaticallymounted on the automobile 1, it is possible to make the antenna 14 aescape to the outside from the antenna passing slit 31 a.

The antenna passing slit 31 a according to this embodiment is formed ata center rear portion position of the body cover A such that the antennapassing slit 31 a extends in the longitudinal direction. As shown inFIG. 33, the antenna passing slit 31 a is provided with a slit-use linefastener 290. The slit-use line fastener 290 can be opened and closedfrom both-side end portions of the antenna passing slit 31 a and hence,the slit-use line fastener 290 can easily cope with a case that theposition of the antenna 14 a is slightly displaced in the fore-and-aftdirection.

Here, the position where the antenna passing slit 31 a is formed is notlimited to the position in the illustrated example and can be suitablychanged corresponding to the mounting position of the antenna 14 a.Further, antenna passing slits 310 a may be preliminarily formed in aplurality of positions to cope with typical antenna mounting positions.Still further, the direction of forming the antenna passing slit 31 a isnot limited to the longitudinal direction of the body cover A.

Here, as the modification of the body cover A of the above-mentionedembodiment, the constitution shown in FIG. 34 may be adopted.

That is, this modification is configured such that the body cover A isprovided with hinge portions H which assist the bending operation of thecore member 21. In this case, the core member 21 is not always requiredto have rigidity.

The hinge portion H is, as shown in FIG. 35, arranged on the core member21 which is arranged to extend over the center portion 2C and left andright portions 2L, 2R of the cover body 2, is mounted at a positionwhich strides over the fold line 7, and includes a coil spring H1 whichhas both respective ends thereof pivotally connected to the core members21-C, 21-R(L).

Due to such a constitution, in folding or unfolding the cover body 2, aresilient force of the coil spring H1 becomes an auxiliary force andhence, the operation can be performed with the light force. Here,although the hinge portion H is provided at one position for each ofleft and right sides of one core member 21, the hinge portions H may beprovided to the respective core members 21.

Although the present invention has been explained in conjunction withthe respective embodiments, the present invention is not limited to theabove-mentioned embodiments and can be modified or replaced within ascope of the gist described in claims.

For example, the prop-up support of the stand portion 4 in the inside ofthe trunk room 10 is not limited to the support in the verticaldirection and may be the support in the left-and-right direction.Further, the winding and the reeling-out of the body cover A may beperformed electrically using a motor or the like.

Further, in the manufacturing steps of the automobile 1, the coverdevice B to which the present invention is applied may be incorporatedin the inside of the trunk room 10 at the suitable position.

Still further, the stand portion 4 may be constituted such that thestand portion 4 can be turned down. Alternatively, the stand portion 4may be constituted to be rotatable around an axis, wherein the standportion 4 is rotated to change the direction of the support portion ofthe device body 3 or the stand portion 4 per se is laid down when thecover device B is not used so as to make more effective use of a spacedefined in the inside of the trunk room 10.

Such a cover device B is specifically explained in conjunction with FIG.36 to FIG. 38. Here, with respect to symbols used here, the same symbolsare used with respect to the constitutional elements identical with theconstitutional elements explained in conjunction with FIG. 11 to FIG.17.

This modification is characterized in that a support portion whichelevatably supports the above-mentioned device body 3 is mounted on asupport strut 40 in a state that the support portion is rotatable abouta center axis of the support strut 40 and, at the same time, the supportstrut 40 can be turned down in the direction orthogonal to thelongitudinal direction of a leg seat 41.

As shown in FIG. 36 and FIG. 37, the support strut 40 of the standportion 4 is configured such that a bottomed inner sleeve 43 whichinserts a coil spring 400 therein is fitted into an outer sleeve 42 anda rod body 61 is fitted into an upper end portion of the inner sleeve43. A lower end portion of the outer sleeve 42 is loosely fitted intothe inside of a connection member 45 having an approximately U-shapedshape in a plan view, wherein the outer sleeve 42 is pivotally mountedby a pivot shaft 49 which penetrates one side portion of the connectionmember 45, the outer sleeve 42 and the other side portion of theconnection member 45 such that the outer sleeve 42 can be turned down.The connection member 45 is fixedly mounted on a leg seat 41 uprightsuch that a U-shaped opening portion thereof faces a side edge of theleg seat 41. Due to such a constitution, as shown in FIG. 38, thesupport strut 40 is configured to be turned down in the directionorthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the leg seat 41.

As shown in FIG. 36, in a portion of the outer sleeve 42 which isloosely fitted into the connection member 45 and is arranged slightlyabove the position at which the pivot shaft 49 penetrates, a ballplunger 48 is disposed, while in portions of the connection member 45right above the pivot shaft 49, fitting holes 45 a, 45 a which allow thefitting of two balls provided to the ball plunger 48 therein are formed.By allowing the fitting of both balls of the ball plunger 48 into thefitting holes 45 a, 45 a, the erected posture of the support strut 40 ismaintained and, at the same time, by applying a given external force tothe support strut 40, both balls of the ball plunger 48 are disengagedfrom the fitting holes 45 a, 45 a whereby the support strut 40 can beturned down with one-touch operation.

On the other hand, an approximately double-skirted cap member 90 whichcovers a periphery of an upper end portion of the inner sleeve 43 andprevents the rod body 61 from being slipped out from the inner sleeve 43is fitted on and fixed to the above-mentioned rod body 61. Two hole areformed in a peripheral surface of the inner sleeve 43 in the vicinity ofan upper end thereof and balls 91, 91 are respectively loosely fittedinto both holes. On an outer peripheral surface of the rod body 61 whichfaces both balls 91, 91, grooves 61 a, 61 a having a suitable length areformed in a double helical shape in the longitudinal direction of theinner sleeve 43. Both balls 91, 91 which are rotatably fitted into bothgrooves 61 a, 61 a are sandwiched between the grooves 61 a, 61 a and aninner peripheral surface of the cap member 90.

The rod body 61 is biased toward the ceiling wall 10 a side by the coilspring 400. Along with the projection of the rod body 61 from the innersleeve 43 by this biasing force, the balls 91, 91 roll in the inside ofthe grooves 61 a, 61 a which correspond to the balls 91, 91 and arebrought into contact with outer ends of the grooves 61 a, 61 a whichface the inner sleeve 43 whereby the projection of the rod body 61 fromthe inner sleeve 43 is restricted. Due to such a constitution, theremoval of the rod body 61 from the inner sleeve 43 is prevented andhence, in releasing the prop-up support of the stand portion 4 which isarranged between the ceiling wall 10 a and the bottom wall 10 b, it ispossible to perform such a releasing operation safely.

On the other hand, when the cap member 90 is rotated in a givendirection, along with the rolling of the balls 91, 91 in the grooves 61a, 61 a, the rod body 61 is pushed into the inside of the inner sleeve43. Then, it is possible to push the rod body 61 into the inside of theinner sleeve 43 until the balls 91, 91 are brought into contact withinner ends of the i grooves 61 a, 61 a which face the inner sleeve 43.Accordingly, it is possible to shorten a length size of the standportion 4 without manipulating a threaded rod 63 and hence, theoperation to again prop up and support the stand portion 4 which is inthe released condition as described above between the ceiling wall 10 aand the bottom wall 10 b can be performed easily.

Here, a rotary sleeve body 500 is rotatably fitted on a middle portionof the outer sleeve 42, while the rotary sleeve 500 is carried on a rim570 which is formed on an upper end edge of a cylindrical rotaryreception body 550. On an outer peripheral surface of the rotaryreception body 550, a plurality of longitudinal flange portions 560,560, . . . are mounted upright parallel to the axial direction of theouter sleeve 42. Further, the rotary reception body 550 is fixedlysecured to the support strut 40 by a handle 47 a having a leg portionwhich is inserted into the rotary reception body 550, the outer sleeve42 and the inner sleeve 43. Here, holes which allow the insertion of theleg portion of the handle 47 a are formed in the outer sleeve 42 inplural stages in the axial direction at a suitable distance. By allowingthe insertion of the leg portion of the handle 47 a in the hole in thesuitable stage, it is possible to adjust the length of the support strut40 to a size corresponding to a size between the ceiling wall 10 a andthe bottom wall 10 b of the trunk.

On an outer peripheral surface of the rotary sleeve body 500 in thevicinity of a lower end thereof, a rotary lever 510 which connects therotary sleeve body 500 and the above-mentioned rotary reception body 550is pivotally supported such that the rotary lever 510 is tiltable in theaxis direction of the rotary sleeve body 500. By fitting on and engaginga hook portion formed on a lower end of the rotary lever 510 with a rim570 disposed between two longitudinal flange portions 560, 560 of therotary reception body 550 which are arranged close to each other, it ispossible to connect and fix the rotary sleeve body 500 to the rotaryreception body 550 and, at the same time, it is possible to prevent therotation of the rotary sleeve body 500 about the center axis of theouter sleeve 42.

With respect to such a rotary sleeve body 500, the engagement of thehook portion and the rim 570 is released by tilting the rotary lever 510which is biased by a spring against the biasing force, the rotary sleevebody 500 is rotated about the center axis of the outer sleeve 42 in sucha state and, thereafter, the hook portion is again engaged with the rim570 disposed between the suitable longitudinal flange portions 560, 560of the rotary reception body 550 whereby it is possible to rotate therotary sleeve body 500 to a position of an arbitrary rotational angle.

Here, the device body 3 is supported such that the device body 3 isadvanced or retracted in the oblique vertical direction with respect tothe axial direction of the support strut 40 by means of a slidemechanism 700. The slide mechanism 700 is configured such that a supportpipe 720 having an upper end on which the mounting portion 8 of thedevice body 3 is mounted is slidably fitted into the inside of acylindrical holder 710 and the holder 710 is connected to theabove-mentioned rotary sleeve body 500 such that the holder 710 canadjust a posture thereof within a given inclination range with respectto the axial direction of the support strut 40.

That is, a lower connection portion 711 which is mounted on the vicinityof the lower end of the holder 710 is journal-mounted on a lower bracket51 which is mounted on the above-mentioned rotary sleeve body 500, whilean upper connection portion 712 of the holder 710 is threadedly mountedon an upper bracket 52 of the rotary sleeve body 500 in a state that aleg portion of a connection handle 715 is made to pass through an oblongposture adjustment hole 713 formed in the upper connection portion 712.Further, after loosening the connection handle 715 and adjusting theposture of the holder 710 about a connection shaft of the lowerconnection portion 711 within a range of a posture adjustment hole 713formed in the upper connection portion 712, the connection handle 715 isfastened so as to fix the posture of the holder 710.

A tiltable leg member 730 having a scissor-blade-like shape in a sideview is fitted into a support pipe 720 such that a distal end portionthereof is disposed in the inside of the support pipe 720 and a proximalend portion projects from the support pipe 720. The tiltable leg member730 is tiltably supported on the vicinity of an upper end of the supportpipe 720 using a pivot shaft 740 which is arranged orthogonal to acenter axis of the support pipe 720. The mounting portion 8 is fixed toa flat proximal end portion of the tiltable leg member 730, while themounting portion 8 is biased toward the support strut 40 side by aspring 750 interposed between an outer peripheral surface of thevicinity of the upper end of the support pipe 720 and a lower surface ofthe mounting portion 8.

On the other hand, on a portion the tiltable leg member 730 in thevicinity of the distal end thereof and at a side opposite to the supportstrut 40, a projection portion 731 having an approximately rectangularshape in a side view is mounted, while a hole which allows theprojection portion 731 to project outwardly is formed in a portion ofthe support pipe 720 which faces the projection portion 731 in anopposed manner.

In such a slide mechanism 700, when the support pipe 720 is pulled up inthe oblique upward direction so as to position the hole formed in thesupport pipe 720 above the upper end of the holder 710, the mountingportion 8 and the tiltable leg member 730 which is connected to themounting portion 8 are tilted to the support strut 40 side due to thebiasing force of the spring 750 and the projection portion 731 of thetiltable leg member 730 is projected outwardly through the hole formedin the support pipe 720. In such a state, when a pulling force appliedto the support pipe 720 is removed, the projection portion 731 isbrought into contact with an upper end edge of the holder 710 due to theweight of the device body 3. Accordingly, the device body 3 is elevatedfrom the lower position where the device body 3 assumes the non-usestate to the upper position where the device body 3 assumes the usestate and the device body 3 is held in the use state. On the other hand,the weight of the device body 3 is supported by the holder 710.Accordingly, it is possible to bring the device body 3 from the non-usestate to the use state by one-touch operation.

On the other hand, to bring the device body 3 in the use state into thenon-use state, the device body 3 is pulled to a side opposite to thesupport strut 40 so as to tilt the tiltable leg member 730 by way of themounting portion 8 thus retracting the projection portion 731 into theinside of the support pipe 720. Then, due to the weight of the devicebody 3, the support pipe 720 is lowered in the holder 710 until themounting portion 8 is brought into contact with the upper end edge ofthe holder 710. Accordingly, it is also possible to bring the devicebody 3 in the use state into the non-use state by one-touch operation.

The cover device B according to this modification has theabove-mentioned constitution, as shown in FIG. 38, depending on the usemode of the trunk, in a state that the device body is removed, byrotating one or both of the rotary sleeve bodies 500, 500 provided tothe pair of stand portions 4, it is possible to prevent the holders 710,710 and the mounting portions 8, 8 from becoming obstacles in the trunk.Further, by turning down one or both of the support struts 40, 40provided to both stand portions 4, 4, it is possible to make moreeffective use of the inside of the trunk when the cover device B is notused.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(1) According to the present invention, fold line portions for guidingfolding are formed on the cover body such that the fold line portionsextend in the longitudinal direction of the cover body, the cover bodyis configured to be foldable along the fold line portions, and aplurality of core members comprised of spring steel are arranged betweenthe fold line portions and left and right longitudinal-side edges of thecover body in a spaced-apart manner in the longitudinal direction.Accordingly, the cover body has the sufficient rigidity and hence, theoperation to unfold the cover body on the roof can be performed easilyand smoothly. Further, also in storing the cover body, the body coverfolding operation is facilitated, the winding of the body cover into thecover device can be easily performed, and the operation can befacilitated even when the wind blows.

(2) According to the present invention, the above-mentioned fold lineportions for guiding folding are formed in plural numbers and hence, itis possible to provide the body cover in versatile folding mode in whichthe body cover is folded in three or more.

(3) According to the present invention, the above-mentioned cover bodyis formed in a shape which is capable of covering the roof portion andfront-and-rear and left-and-right window portions of the automobile, andis foldable in three along the longitudinal direction by way of two foldline portions into the center portion which covers the front and rearwindow portions and the left-side portion and the right-side portionwhich cover left and right window portions, and a plurality of coremembers comprised of spring steel are formed on the center portion, theleft-side portion and the right-side portions respectively. Accordingly,in addition to the advantageous effects described in the above-mentioned(1), it is possible to jerk the whole left-side or right-side portion ofthe body cover by merely performing the jerking operation by grippingone portion of the front side or the rear side of the left-side orright-side portion and hence, handling of the cover body becomesextremely easy.

(4) According to the present invention, the above-mentioned core membersare displaced from each other such that the core members are notoverlapped to each other when the cover body is folded in three.Accordingly, in addition to the advantageous effects described in theabove-mentioned (1) to (3), it is possible to eliminate the possibilitythat the core members are overlapped so that the thickness of the coverbody is increased thus making the handling of the winding of the coverbody difficult.

(5) According to the present invention, the above-mentioned core membersare formed of a strip-like body having resiliency. Accordingly, inaddition to the advantageous effects described in the above-mentioned(1) to (4), it is possible to prevent the body cover from becomingparticularly heavy and, at the same time, there is no possibility thatthe shape of the cover body is particularly limited.

(6) Further, according to the present invention, the body cover includesthe hinge portions which facilitate the folding operation of the coremembers. Accordingly, in addition to the advantageous effects describedin the above-mentioned (1) to (5), the jerking operation and the foldingoperation of the cover can be performed with a small force.

(7) According to the present invention, the pipe-like core members areprovided to front ends and/or rear ends of the above-mentioned coverbody. Accordingly, in addition to the advantageous effects described inthe above-mentioned (1) to (6), it is possible to make use of thepipe-like core member as the grip portion and, at the same time, thecover body can be wound using the pipe-like core member as the centerand hence, it is possible to smoothly perform the cover mounting anddismounting operations.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned cover body isconfigured to be stored in an automobile body cover device whichincludes winding means such that the above-mentioned cover body isreeled out from and is wound in the automobile body cover device.Accordingly, in addition to the advantageous effects described in theabove-mentioned (1) to (7), it is possible to perform the mountingoperation of the body cover by reeling out or advancing the body coverfrom the inside of the trunk room along the rear glass or it is possibleto reversely store the folded body cover into the inside of the trunkroom along the rear glass whereby the operability is remarkablyenhanced.

1. An automobile body cover comprising: a cover body which has fold lineportions for guiding folding, the fold lines formed on the cover bodyand extending in parallel in a longitudinal direction of the cover body,the cover body being configured to be foldable along the fold lineportions; a plurality of core members which are arranged between thefolding line portions and left and right longitudinal-side edges of thecover body in a spaced-apart manner in the longitudinal direction, thecore members being formed of spring steel, gore portions which areformed in the cover body for absorbing a gap between a state in whichthe cover body is unfolded and a state in which the automobile iscovered with the cover body in a good shape, the gore portions beingformed at front and rear sides of left and right-side portions of thecover body, and core members which are formed on fold lines of the goreportions which form an approximately V-shape.
 2. An automobile bodycover comprising: a cover body which is formed in a shape capable ofcovering a roof portion and front-and-rear and left-and-right windowportions of an automobile, the cover body being foldable in three alonga longitudinal direction by way of twofold line portions into a centerportion which covers the front and rear window portions and a roofportion and a left-side portion and a right-side portion which coverleft and right window portions respectively; a plurality of core memberswhich are formed of spring steel and are formed on the center portion,the left-side portion and the right-side portion respectively, goreportions which are formed in the cover body for absorbing a gap betweena state in which the cover body is unfolded and a state in which theautomobile is covered with the cover body in a good shape, the goreportions being formed at front and rear sides of left and right-sideportions of the cover body, and core members which are formed on foldlines of the gore portions which form an approximately V-shape.
 3. Anautomobile body cover according to claim 1, wherein the fold lineportions for guiding folding are formed in plural numbers.
 4. Anautomobile body cover according to claim 1, wherein the core members aredisplaced from each other such that the core members are not overlappedto each other when the cover body is folded in three.
 5. An automobilebody cover according to claim 1, wherein pipe-shaped core members areprovided in front ends and/or rear ends of the cover body.
 6. Anautomobile body cover according to claim 1, wherein the cover body isconfigured to be stored in an automobile body cover device whichincludes winding means such that the cover body is reeled out from andis wound in the automobile body cover device.
 7. An automobile bodycover according to claim 3, wherein the core members are displaced fromeach other such that the core members are not overlapped to each otherwhen the cover body is folded in three.
 8. An automobile body coveraccording to claim 2, wherein the core members are displaced from eachother such that the core members are not overlapped to each other whenthe cover body is folded in three.
 9. An automobile body cover accordingto claim 3, wherein pipe-shaped core members are provided to front endsand/or rear ends of the cover body.
 10. An automobile body coveraccording to claim 2, wherein pipe-shaped core members are provided tofront ends and/or rear ends of the cover body.
 11. An automobile bodycover according to claim 4, wherein pipe-shaped core members areprovided to front ends and/or rear ends of the cover body.
 12. Anautomobile body cover according to claim 3, wherein the cover body isconfigured to be stored in an automobile body cover device whichincludes winding means such that the cover body is reeled out from andis wound in the automobile body cover device.
 13. An automobile bodycover according to claim 2, wherein the cover body is configured to bestored in an automobile body cover device which includes winding meanssuch that the cover body is reeled out from and is wound in theautomobile body cover device.
 14. An automobile body cover according toclaim 4, wherein the cover body is configured to be stored in anautomobile body cover device which includes winding means such that thecover body is reeled out from and is wound in the automobile body coverdevice.
 15. An automobile body cover according to claim 7, wherein thecover body is configured to be stored in an automobile body cover devicewhich includes winding means such that the cover body is reeled out fromand is would in the automobile body cover device.